British Friends of Emek
Edgware trust whose registered objects begin with support for the Emek Lone Soldiers Centre in Jerusalem, which serves IDF lone soldiers; it gave £68,600 in 2024/25 to unnamed recipients
| British Friends of Emek
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  Emek Refaim Street, Jerusalem, where Emek Lone Soldiers gives its address (2023) |
| Type | Trust |
| Founded | 2007-12-07 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1121878 |
| Headquarters | Edgware HA8 |
| Area served | Israel |
British Friends of Emek (also registered as "British Friends of Netsach" and "British Friends of Neveh Zion") was registered on 7 December 2007; it is governed by a trust deed as amended by a resolution of 28 June 2015 and its principal address is in Edgware HA8.[1][2] Its registered objects are "to support the exclusively charitable activities of the Emek Lone Soldiers Centre in Jerusalem and to advance education and the Orthodox Jewish religion by supporting such institutes of higher education, namely yeshivot and seminaries in Israel".[1] The 2024/25 accounts name three trustees – Rabbi Shalom Benjamin Myers (printed "Shalon"), Michael Isaacs (chair) and Mark Jeremy Dembowsky – while the register lists only Rabbi Shalom Benjamin Myers (PDF p.2).[2][3] In the year to 31 October 2025 donations were £71,565 (2024: £21,432) and grants to charities and individuals £68,600 (2024: £23,200); no recipient is named (PDF p.2, 4).[2] The archived 2016/17 report says that, of £39,876 received, £3,800 "was paid to the Emek Lone Soldiers centre in Emek Refaim, Jerusalem", £22,950 to the Emek Learning Centre in Jerusalem and £17,355 to other institutes of higher learning in Israel.[4]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "TO SUPPORT THE EXCLUSIVELY CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF THE EMEK LONE SOLDIERS CENTRE IN JERUSALEM AND TO ADVANCE EDUCATION AND THE ORTHODOX JEWISH RELIGION BY SUPPORTING SUCH INSTITUTES OF HIGHER EDUCATION, NAMELY YESHIVOT AND SEMINARIES IN ISRAEL AS THE TRUSTEES SHALL FROM TIME TO TIME DETERMINE."[3]
The register describes its activities as: "The main activity of the charity is to support the Emek Learning Centre in Israel which provides support and learning facilities in Jewish studies to English speakers in Jerusalem together with an advanced learning programme for Yeshivah graduates."[3]
Register classifications: Education/training, Religious Activities, Other Charitable Purposes.[3]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel.[3]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[3]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shalom Benjamin Myers | 2014-07-21 | — |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-07 | Shalom Benjamin Myers (from 21 July 2014); Mark Jeremy Dembowsky; Michael Isaacs | [5] |
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-10-31 | £12,858 | £12,623 |
| 2022-10-31 | £16,090 | £16,428 |
| 2023-10-31 | £7,799 | £5,577 |
| 2024-10-31 | £21,432 | £23,502 |
| 2025-10-31 | £71,565 | £68,907 |
Source: register annual-return history.[3]
Archived accounts
Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:
- Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2016[6]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2017[7]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2018[8]
Funding in Israel
- Year to 31 October 2025: grants to charities and individuals £68,600 (2024: £23,200), recipients not named (PDF p.4).[2]
- Year to 31 October 2017: £3,800 to the Emek Lone Soldiers centre in Emek Refaim, Jerusalem; £22,950 to the Emek Learning Centre, Jerusalem; £17,355 to other institutes of higher learning in Israel.[4]
Israeli partners
Emek Lone Soldiers, which says it is "situated in the German colony of Jerusalem" and gives its address as Emek Refaim Street 64.[9][10] Its staff page says that "Rabbi Shalom Myers", raised in South Africa, founded the Emek Learning Center in the German Colony in 2013; he has the same name as the charity's register trustee, but no source read confirms that they are the same person.[11][3]
Activity beyond the Green Line and support for the IDF
Findings are graded by confidence. "Partner" findings concern the Israeli recipient organisation, not proven use of UK funds.
| Finding | Confidence |
|---|---|
| Emek Lone Soldiers places its centre in the German Colony of Jerusalem (Emek Refaim Street); no source places the charity's work beyond the Green Line.[9][10] | High |
Support for the IDF: The charity's registered objects begin with support for "the Emek Lone Soldiers Centre in Jerusalem".[1] Emek Lone Soldiers says that "there are over 300 English-speaking religious lone soldiers serving annually in various units of the Israel Defense Force ... most serve in combat units", and that it was established "to assist them before enlistment, during their military service and after completion of their duty", providing hot meals, care packages "for both on-duty and off-duty soldiers" and other services.[9] In 2016/17 the charity paid £3,800 to the centre.[4] The 2024/25 accounts do not name the recipients of £68,600 in grants (PDF p.2).[2] (Partner finding: welfare support for serving IDF soldiers.)[2]
Controversies and regulatory action
- No Charity Commission inquiry, Official Warning or Gazette insolvency notice naming this charity was found, and its register entry shows no regulatory alert;[12] it is not among the charities named in the Commission's cheque-cashing class-inquiry announcements (May, September and December 2025) or in the September 2026 statement of results.[13][14][15][16] The charities in the Commission's settlements class inquiry (opened August 2026) have not been named, so it is not known whether this charity is among them.[17]
- Objects omitted from the accounts. The objective given in the 2024/25 accounts – supporting "institutes of higher education in Israel" – omits the lone-soldiers centre that heads the registered objects (PDF p.2).[2][1]
- Wrong year and statute. The independent examiner, Stephen Chevern FCA of Passer Chevern & Co, reports on "the year ended 31 October 2024" and cites sections of the Charities Act 1993 (PDF p.3).[2]
Other registers and records
Scotland and Northern Ireland
No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (register export dated 14 October 2026, searched by name).[18] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[19]
The Gazette
Searches of The Gazette notice feeds (all notices, insolvency and company) for the charity's name found no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice.[20]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[21]
Sanctions screening
The charity's name, its current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees and officers named in the accounts read for this profile and (for charitable companies) its Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match was found. Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor (UK sanctions ID RUS1127) does not appear among this charity's trustees or officers.[22]
Land and property
The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[3] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[23]
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "British Friends of Emek", "British Friends of Netsach", "British Friends of Neveh Zion" returned 0 contributions in total.[24]
Web archive
The UK Government Web Archive holds 2 archived Charity Commission register pages used in this profile (cited in the sections above). The 2021 archived full print showed the status "Charity reporting is up to date" and "Other regulators: No information available".[5]
External links
- No current official website.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Charity Commission, British Friends of Emek (1121878): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Charity Commission, British Friends of Emek (1121878): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities public extract (tables charity, charity_trustee, charity_annual_return_history, charity_area_of_operation, charity_classification, charity_other_names), extract dated 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Charity Commission, British Friends of Emek: trustees' annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 October 2017 UK Government Web Archive, capture of 08/01/2020. (scanned).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Register entry 1121878, full print (capture of 20210107) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ British Friends of Emek accounts, year ended 2016-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
- ↑ British Friends of Emek accounts, year ended 2017-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
- ↑ British Friends of Emek accounts, year ended 2018-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Emek Lone Soldiers, About us emeklonesoldiers.com, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Emek Lone Soldiers, Home page emeklonesoldiers.com, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Emek Lone Soldiers, Our staff emeklonesoldiers.com, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Register of Charities, charity overview page (register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/ followed by the organisation number) for each of the 25 batch-20 charities, all retrieved successfully on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section; none was shown for any of them. Seventeen registered charities showed "Charity reporting is up to date (on time)"; the other eight (Friends of Milbat, British Friends of Atid, River Progress Foundation, Morris Family Israel Trust, Afikim, the Cohen Charitable Trust, the Adrienne and Leslie Sussman Charitable Trust and Encompass) showed "Removed charity".
- ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator concludes investigation into 4 charities as class inquiry continues GOV.UK, 9 September 2026, with Statement of the results of a class inquiry (same date).
- ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 2026 (a fact-finding statutory class inquiry initially involving 8 charities which "are not being publicly named at this time").
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-20 charity names found no matching Scottish registration (a name-only hit for "Sheila & Denis Cohen Charitable Trust" was not established to be connected with the Cohen Charitable Trust and is disregarded).
- ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 16 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-20 charity names returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'British Friends of Emek' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1121878 360Giving, queried 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-20 screening covered 272 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, Companies House officers of the five charitable companies, and trustees, examiners and other people and bodies named in the accounts and sources read for this batch; matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually. No forename-and-surname match for any person was found; token matches were surname-only coincidences (for example Weiss, Sara, Masri, Cohen) or generic words in organisation names (Limited, Company, Trust).
- ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK – the service returned HTTP 403 (bot protection) to automated access in October 2026; no titles were looked up or purchased. Candidate title numbers below come from the free CCOD / OCOD datasets (October 2026 release), not from paid title registers.
- ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "British Friends of Emek" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).